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Thomas Kloet is a U.S. citizen, but his job these days is north of the border as Chief Executive Officer of Toronto Stock Exchange parent TMX Group. It isn’t his first gig outside the States either. A decade ago, Kloet helped shepherd the Singapore Exchange into a new era as a commercial entity from its prior status as a mutual utility

When Tom visited Forbes on June 7, we talked about everything from Nasdaq’s recent flub of the Facebook IPO to consolidation in the exchange space and the different market trends between the U.S. and Canada.

(The following Q&A has been edited for length and clarity.)

Forbes: The Facebook IPO is still in the headlines. What was your take on that offering, and the glitches that prevented a smooth debut?

Tom Kloet: Obviously we were watching it carefully, because it had been a while since we had a deal like this, unprecedented in terms of interest, particularly the retail interest. You had people — I know of some friends like this — that had never owned a stock individually before in their life, but they were on Facebook and thought ‘I’ll buy the stock’ because they felt like they knew it.

That’s unfortunate because that retail sector has been left with a bad taste in their mouth.

Forbes: What do you think has been impact on the markets in general?

Kloet: Many of us were hopeful that a successful FB listing and aftermarket would really fuel the opportunity for some other great tech companies to come forward and there are a number that I think are right on the verge of that point where they go to market.

The whole situation was pretty unfortunate. I was watching it like you were, was a little bit surprise at a couple things. First, that the media had so much focus on them – it was the first time I had ever seen the order book before an IPO on public display. Secondly, there was the delay at the beginning.

It was a very rumor-fueled opening and as a result it clearly tested the capacity of someone we’ve all viewed as being a very responsible market operator in Nasdaq. I have a great deal of respect for what Bob [Greifeld]’s built and the team there. So it’s an unfortunate thing and I don’t know if we’ll ever know on the outside exactly what happened.

Forbes: What are your thoughts on Nasdaq’s proposed $40 million fund to compensate member firms who took losses related to the issues it had opening Facebook’s shares for trading?

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